Pro12 final is fitting finale in CJ Stander’s stand-out season

He’s the man now. The man with nine tries to his name this season. A hoarder of seven man-of-the-match awards this season. Munster’s first overseas player of the year. It hasn’t always been like this, but that’s what makes CJ Stander the perfect example of a special project.

It's taken him the best part of his three years' residency to become the player he is now and the player who will be available to Ireland after the World Cup. But it's Munster who made him into a much more rounded player than when he first arrived on October 30th in 2012. Stander is the first to accept he would never have been the same player had he stayed in South Africa.

“When I left the Bulls I thought I was good, but I was an average player. When I got here Munster took me under their wing. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t playing. They had a plan, and it’s going good now. But they transformed me into the player I am now, so I owe a lot of people here everything. They changed me into the player I am now and when I represent them I want to play as well as I can and if the chance comes to represent Ireland, I’ll grab it.”

As he showed on his debut against the Scarlets in November with a two-try, man-of-the-match performance, he could always carry and he knew when the try-line was. But there were only two more starts that season in a total of seven appearances and he admitted he and his wife Jean-Marie struggled to settle. (By contrast, there were 15 starts last season and 24 of his 25 appearances this season have been from the start).

But the specialist coaching has paid off. As well as improving his carrying – he learned sometimes the hard way that he couldn’t always run directly through opponents – he highlights his work-rate and his defence. “I used to go in high and in the northern hemisphere, they just run over you. I chop-tackle more now, I go for a guy’s knees or his ankles. And game awareness. Look up to see what’s going on, to get that last pass away.”

Work in progress

All of them are still works in progress, but he has also become fitter. “When I left South Africa I was 106kg and I’m 112kg now, and it’s not fat, it’s muscle and body weight. Cozzy [Ian Cosgrave] has improved my skills and my defence, and Axel [Anthony Foley] my work from the back of the scrum.”

Foley and Jerry Flannery have also added to his game, improving his fend-offs, and he is using his feet as well as his hands more. One thing Foley would never done when leading 16-3 in a cup semi-final is go for a no-look blindside pass to his winger on his own 22, and Stander came in to work on Monday morning with the first words out of his mouth to his coach: "I know. I know."

But Foley also confirmed, in the context of Paddy Butler’s impending departure to Pau, that their first-choice back-row is now Peter O’Mahony, Tommy O’Donnell and Stander. With the latter two both out of today’s Pro12 final, the onus on Stander is even bigger.

Munster ethos

Certainly Stander has bought into the Munster ethos lock, stock and barrel. You ask Stander what that ethos is and he sighs, trying to find the right words.

“It’s working for each other, doing selfless work, not trying to be the main man. For me it’s a family. It’s about honesty of effort and playing for the jersey, for Munster, not for yourself, and the support is unbelievable. I’ve played for my home team, the under-20s, the Blue Bulls, but I’ve never experienced anything like it. That’s why they call it the 16th man. The Munster supporters . . . I can’t put it into words.”

Now 25, if someone told him he was going to spend the rest of his career here, he says: “I’d love that. I’d take it. If I could get a 10-year deal now, I’d do it. I would love to go back to South Africa one day but I enjoy the Irish lifestyle, and me and Jean-Marie are looking to buy a house here. If we can stay here that’s what we’re working for.”

They've been to the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry, Dingle and Belfast, staying in the Europa and taking in the black cab tour, the Titanic Museum and all the sights.

From third-generation farming stock, he’d envisaged going back to South Africa one day but now says of Ireland: “I feel safe. I feel happier. The people are great. I’ve got used to the culture and the food and the lifestyle. I’ll maybe have a family here one day. I’ve told the boys if I can buy a small place now and maybe a farm later, and if I can milk 100 cows, I’ll be happy out. Jean-Marie can be a solicitor in town.”

Marriage to Jean-Marie, whose dream of competing at the swimming at the Rio Olympics has been ended by a shoulder injury, has contributed to his happiness. She is finishing her degree in law this year.

He also owes Munster a huge debt, and as was the case after last week’s semi-final, he again becomes quite emotional when talking about Paul O’Connell’s unwavering faith in him, especially during that tricky first year.

“I remember at the beginning, not playing and just hanging around, he would always look at me and see how disappointed I looked in my face, and he’d come up to me and just say: ‘Keep the faith, kid. Keep the faith’.”

‘Keep the faith’

“It was so tough at the time. I was thinking, ‘Maybe it’s not going to work out here’ and I just remember his words: ‘Keep the faith, kid.’ Then I came on early against Toulouse last year and he was interviewed on Sky and he talked about me being on the back of the bus and making a lot of jokes. That meant so much to me, that guy talking about me. Who am I? I didn’t think he even understood what I was saying, I was always blabbering away.

“He’s the type of guy who if he wants me to be his friend that would be great, but if not I’m going to keep his number for ever and if I’m in trouble I’m going to call him. He is a leader of men. When he talks, you listen. When he just looks at you, you just listen. Last week before the game he didn’t talk, and I looked into his eyes and I got emotional.”

He recalls O’Connell ringing him the first day he arrived and asking him if Jean-Marie was in the pool, or on the countless days since when he’s asked how they are. “Why’s he talking to me? I must be doing something right. It just shows the kind of man he is.

“I’m crying now again. I never thought I would play with a guy like that, and now I’m playing with him, and he talks about me like that. That’s the high of my career. I look at him at training and I just want to thank him every time I see him. He’s a legend. I don’t think I’ll ever meet a guy like that again.”

There are others leaving too, like Butler, Andrew Smith, Sean Dougall, Johne Murphy and JJ Hanrahan. It's not been mentioned within the group but Stander would love to help O'Connell ride off into the sunset with a winners' medal. "You just know this in the back of your head. This is for Paul."

But most of all for Munster. “For sure. I came over here and you knew Munster was a European giant, and I’m getting the chance now to give something back. For all the boys in the team, this is what we play for. And for the supporters. I remember last week I was cutting the grass and people were driving past and tooting their horns and wishing me luck. I’ve never had that and that’s why I’m enjoying it so much. That’s what makes it worthwhile.”